All New HTC One (M8) Getting the Google Play Edition Treatment, Available for Pre-Order Today!

HTC is wasting no time pushing out the HTC One (M8) in a myriad of forms just hours after the device’s release. HTC has just announced that it will be releasing a Google Play Edition version of the M8, available now for pre-order from the Google Play Store for $699. That’s a pretty big chunk of change, but its worth it for a vanilla Android experience.

Google Play Edition smartphones became a thing last year, with some manufacturers offering GPE versions of their flagship devices. What GPE means is a device stripped of its UI, or user interface, which every major smartphone manufacturer slaps on their devices. The GPE devices run stock Android, meaning that only Google apps and a clean version of Android is installed from the get go. HTC’s UI, Sense is one of the better ones out there, but a vanilla Android experience is still better in my book.

While the HTC One (M8)’s Duo camera has a ton of software behind it, HTC claims that the Google Play Edition HTC One (M8) will indeed utilize the Duo camera. There’s no news yet if the Duo camera will require a separate app, or if it will work with Google’s stock Android camera app.

The Google Play Edition of the HTC One (M8) is compatible with the following bands:

So, what are you waiting for? Head on over to the Google Play Store and grab your Google Play Edition HTC One (M8). I’ve included the spec sheet below if you need another peek at what’s under the hood.